Melbourne: Former renowned Aussie leg spinner, Shane Warne, had criticized ex-teammate Andrew Symonds for showing disrespect to the national side and urged him to come back as a “better person” in the future. The former leggie said that in the absence of senior players like Ponting and Hayden from the squad, Symonds should have come forward to support his one-time best buddy Micheal Clarke.

Australian spinner Shane Warne criticized all-rounder Andrew Symonds for not attending the important team meeting in Darwin. He said that Symond has shown disrespect toward the team with his ‘gone fishing’ episode.

He urged him to mend his ways and serve the Australian team for the national interest. He also repeated his support for his one-time best friend Michael Clarke, as most of the senior members of the team like Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden are not playing in the proposed series.

Mohinder Amarnath has joined the Bengal Ranji federation as a consultant on Monday. He is a former test player who played various national and international matches. He praised the players of West Bengal for their hard work and dedication after assuming the charge of consultancy.

He said that Sourav Ganguly is a competent player for upcoming national and international series. He strongly advocated the entry of Ganguly in the forthcoming home series between India and Australia. He termed him as a hardworking and brilliant player of the country. He stressed that the Indians will have to do a lot of handwork to win the match against Australia.

When the Olympic quarter-finalist Saina Nehwal won at the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix on Sunday, she declared it as the biggest victory of her career. She is now hoping to make into the top 10 riding on her performance at the Asian circuit.

After Saina grabbed the title in Chinese Taipei by defeating unseeded Malaysian Li Ya Lydia Cheah 21-8, 21-19 in the final of the GP Gold event, she became the first Indian woman shuttler with two Grand Prix crowns under her belt.

After getting back to back whammies all in a row over hosting the matches in the country, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the West Indies to play two test series in Pakistan in November.

Speaking on this, Shafqat Naghmi, COO, PCB said, “We have invited West Indies to come and play two tests immediately after the one-day series they play against us in Abu Dhabi in November.”

Earlier, due to the security reasons the International Cricket Council (ICC) cancelled the Champions Trophy to be played in Pakistan from September 12-28. PCB then approached both South Africa and Sri Lanka to play matches in Pakistan. However, both these countries refused to play in Pakistan.

The Pakistani team has not played a single test match this year.

The Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) has decided to appoint Venkatpathi Raju as new coach for the Ranji Trophy side for the coming season of 2008-09.

At present, Raju is working as a selector for team India (south zone). His tenure of selector is due to end this month. His availability for OCA will be known only after the BCCI AGM on September 27-28.

Speaking on this Raju said, “If I don't get an extension, I'll be happy to take over the coaching of Orissa. So we have to wait till September 27.”

The left arm spinner has played 28 tests and 53 ODI’s for team India. He last featured against Australia in 2001 at Eden Gardens.